Shalala, Mucarsel-Powell flip Miami-Dade House seats to Democrats

Tonya Becker |Thursday, November 08, 2018

Shalala, Mucarsel-Powell flip Miami-Dade House seats to Democrats

The Democrats were inching toward taking back the House on Tuesday, picking up at least 18 Republican-held seats in districts across the country as one of the most volatile midterm elections in modern us history drew toward a close.

But expectations are generally that Democrats will gain the 23 seats they need to take control of the House but may lose ground in the Senate, allowing Republicans to widen their 51-49 majority.

As for Republicans retaining control of the Senate, she called it "a huge moment and victory for the president".

If Republicans hang on to their majorities in the House and Senate after two years of protests and marches against the Trump administration, it would be a crushing blow to Democrats.

In Michigan, Rashida Tlaib could become the first Muslim woman and first Palestinian-American in Congress.

And even if legislation passed in both chambers, Trump could veto it and Democrats would likely lack the votes for an override.

House Democrats may not be able to push their bills into law, but they are certain to use their new majority - and the powers that go with it - to pursue a variety of investigations into Trump Cabinet members accused of misusing taxpayer funds; to subpoena Trump's tax returns and probe his business ties; to reopen the House inquiry into his campaign's link to Russian Federation during the 2016 campaign; and quite possibly pass articles of impeachment against the president, depending upon how big the Democratic majority is.

Anticipating the possibility of keeping the Senate but losing the House, aides in recent days had laid out the political reality to Trump, who could face an onslaught of Democratic-run investigations.

Democrats were also heartened by heavy turnout after a bitter campaign which at Trump's own insistence was widely seen as an unofficial referendum on his polarizing presidency. And they would claim subpoena power to investigate Trump's personal and professional shortcomings.

The debate was dominated not by the GOP's $1.5 trillion tax cuts but by Trump's dire prediction of "invasion" from the migrant caravan and what he called the "radical" agenda of speaker-in-waiting Pelosi.

That is up more than 50 percent from the 20.5 million early votes cast in all of 2014, the last federal election when the White House was not at stake.

Trump packed his closing argument with hardline immigration rhetoric and harsh attacks on Democrats as he stared down the prospect of Republican losses that could shadow his presidency.

The results, Trump argued, were proof of his ability to turn out voters.

Chrissy Houlahan, an Air Force veteran and first-time Democratic candidate, was favored to win Pennsylvania's 6th Congressional District race.

Gubernatorial races were key too, since they determine control of state governments that ultimately decide how electoral districts are redrawn, shaping the path to victory for presidential hopefuls in 2020.

While men with military backgrounds have always been recruited to run for office, this year's candidates include several female veterans.

Tuesday's elections also test the strength of a Trump-era political realignment defined by evolving divisions among voters by race, gender, and especially education.

In Indiana, Republican Mike Braun knocked off Democratic Sen.

Outside Richmond, one-time tea party favorite Rep. Dave Brat faced an unusually strong challenge from Democrat Abigail Spanberger, a former Central Intelligence Agency operative motivated to run for office after the GOP vote to gut the Affordable Care Act.

Many people have already voted.

In a suburban battleground in Atlanta, Republican Rep. Karen Handel won a costly special election earlier this cycle but faced an upstart challenge from Lucy McBath, whose 17-year-old son was shot and killed at a gas station.

The GOP's hold on the majority was complicated by an unusually large number of retirements as well as persistent infighting between conservatives and centrists, with much of the conflict centered on the question of allegiance to Trump.

Turnout for mid-term elections is traditionally lower than in presidential years, but the results could have dramatic implications for the United States, and in particular for Trump's legislative agenda. The other 29 Republican-held seats are considered toss-ups.

There's been a lot of attention paid to the 25 GOP seats Clinton carried in 2016 - and rightfully so - but Democrats are also on offense in numerous dozen districts that swung from Barack Obama in 2012 to Trump four years later.

The committee also distanced itself from eight-term Rep. Steve King of Iowa after racial remarks, and his seat was unexpectedly contested in the final week of the campaign.

The fight for control of the House could come down to a handful of seats out West, particularly in California, where the GOP's one-time stronghold of Orange County voted for Clinton in 2016.

In North Carolina, Republicans were struggling to hold onto a seat where Baptist minister Mark Harris ousted a GOP incumbent in the primary. "That said, it may be just as likely - or even more likely - that we're understating the Democrats in the House".

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